New Delhi: Japan has retained it’s position of having the most favourable passport in the world, that enables visa-free entry to as many as 193 countries, according to a report by Henley Passport Index 2023.
India, on the other hand, improved its position by two spots from last year and is currently ranked 85th on the index.
Meanwhile, Singapore and South Korea have retained their places in joint second on the ranking, followed by Germany and Spain.
As per the report, the US features among the top 22, with visa-free access to 186 places, matching the likes of Switzerland, New Zealand and Norway. China’s passport allows access to 80, the same as Bolivia’s.
Russia’s is better, providing hassle-free entry to 118 destinations, while Afghanistan’s remained the weakest, with access to just 27 countries.
It is to be noted that the report uses data from the International Air Transport Association to rank 199 passports’ access to 227 travel destinations.
The methodology is different from other passport indexes like one published by financial advisory Arton Capital, which put the United Arab Emirates in pole position.
Notably, this is the original ranking of all the passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa.
Meanwhile, in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, India ranked at 82nd spot, 84th, 85th and 83rd respectively.
It is to be noted that India passport holders can travel visa-free to or get visas on arrival for destinations like Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Macao, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe and Qatar.
On the other hand, Morning Consult poll conducted in July showed that 35% of the adult respondents in Japan indicated they didn’t plan to travel for leisure, a percentage that is higher than the other 13 nations surveyed.
